116 Cards in this Set

Society is a result of how people use material resources. We are currently in the stage of "capitalism", which has created a 2-class system of owners and workers.

key terms: Materialist concept of history, class conflict

Marx: Materialist concept of history

It is not the ideas or values human beings hold that are the main sources of social change (Durkheim), but social change is prompted by economic influences. The conflict between classes creates historical development

Marx: capitalism

a class system in which confict between classes is a commonplace occurence because it is in the interests of the ruling class to exploit the working class and the interest of the workers to overcome that exploitation.

Marx: who he was

He was a journalist who worked with Engels. Marx influenced Weber and Durkheim.

Max Weber: theoretical perspective

focused on meaning, value, symbols, status

Max Weber: ideas as to how society develops and operates

society is a result of material and social resources. He took Marx' ideas and argued that in addition to material resources, people gain power through social status.

Focused on why Western societies developed so differently from other societies. Emphasized the importance of cultural ideas and values of social change.

key terms: bureaucracy, social capital

Max Weber: bureaucracy

a large organization with multiple levels of leadership. Uses written records and rules. Makes organization run efficiently, but has no democracy.

We have formal and informal bureacracies.

Iron Law of Oligarchy: power flows to the top, rules given from top to bottom.

Bureaucratic ritualism: rules upheld at any cost, leads to moral and efficiency problems.

Max Weber: 5 characteristics of bureaucracies

1. Clear cut heirarchy
2. Written rules govern conduct
3. officials are salaried
4. separation between personal life and work
5. Workers do not own the materials they use

Emile Durkheim: theoretical perspective

Functionalism: society is a very powerful force that seeks balance and equilibrium. The reason things happen and exist is to make society work.

Emile Durkheim: anomie

Concept by Durkheim. When social norms lose their hold on individual behavior. Examined in the context of suicidal behavior, a feeling of aimlessness or despair provoked by modern social life being one of these influences.

Emile Durkheim: organic solidarity

saw society as a set of independent, specialized parts that work in harmony with one another and fuction as a whole. Like the human body parts. Social cohesion, consensus about values and customs.

Emile Durkheim: idea as to how society functions and operates

people are a result of society. Everything we observe is the result of society's need to function. Society is constantly trying to achieve balance.

Emile Durkheim: who he was

The first scholar to identify as a "sociologist".

Herbert Mead: symbolic interactionism

The exchange of symbols in social interaction, especially language. Applies to our sense of self, we become self-conscious. Almost all interactions involve an exchange of symbols.

Herbert Mead: self-identity

As infants, we have a sense of "I".

In young childhood (3-5 years), we develop sense of "Me" or social self. Imitates actions of those around them.

Later childhood we develop "generalized other", or general values and cultural rules. Take part in organized games, not systematic play.

Erving Goffman: civil inattention

When each individual acknowledges the other's presence but tries not to be too intrusive.

Erving Goffman: interactional vandalism

breaking norms of everyday interaction (Duneir study). Power: subordinate breaks rules that are of value to the more powerful.

Erving Goffman: response cries

Exclamations when others are listening. Usually something to apologize for behavior and to reassure others that things are in control.

Erving Goffman: impression management

acting in ways to influence how others perceive.

Labelling theories or deviance

People get deviant labels, internalize, and believe that they themselves are deviant. Assumes that no act is intrinsically criminal/deviant. People who represent the laws of conformity or who can impose definitions of conventiional morality on others do most of the labelling. Reflect the power structure in society.

What distinguishes sociology from psychology, history and anthropology?

Sociology focuses on the importance of environment and how it shapes people.

Psychology: an individual look, one person, individual problems.
History: Looking at facts without much analysis of causation.
Anthropology: Difference from sociology is the history of each. Anths' are mostly relativists, socs' are into social justice.

Microsociology

studying small groups, everyday behavior in face-to-face interaction.

Macrosociology

the analysis of large scale social systems, and analysis of the long-term process of change

Mesosociology

studying organizations (ex. examining Congress)

Sociologist's line of questioning: 4 kinds of research questions

1. Factual questions:
quantitative, have numerical value, can count or observe.
2. Comparative: compare/contrast. Helps get at intrinsic human qualities.
3. Developmental: how things change overtime
4: Theoretical questions: trying to figure out the more social dynamics of a study, what underlies a phenomenon

The research process: what are the 7 steps of research?

1. Define the problem: select a topic
2. Review the literature: familiarize yourself with existing research on the topic.
3. Formulate a hypothesis: what do you intend to test? What is the relationship between the variables?
4. Select a research design: choose one or more research methods.
5. Carry out the research: collect your data, record the information.
6. Interpret the results: work out the implications of the data you collect.
7. Report the research findings: what is their significance? How do they relate to previous findings?

DRFSCIR

The research process: 3 methods of sociological research

Ethnography: provides in-depth information and broader understanding of social processes. But can only be used to study relatively small groups/communities, and its hard to generalize on the basis of one study. Researcher can be influenced by people she's observing.

The research process: What is the importance of reflexivity in research?

reflexivity: knowledge and experience always affect each other.

Our thinking and behavior are affected by sociological knowledge in complex subtle ways, thus reshaping the very field of sociological investigation. Sociology stands in a reflexive relation to the behavior whose behavior is being studied.

How do culture and society relate?

One can't exist without the other. A society is a system of interrelationships that connects individuals together. Culture is society's glue because it provides a sources of conformity. Social control enforces social norms in society by punishing rulebreaking.

Nature vs. Nature: significance of identical twin studies (?)

separated, came back together and have a lot alike.

Nature vs. Nurture: 4 cultural universals

language, partnership, religion, property

4 stages of pre-modern societies

1. Hunter/gatherers: age and sex determine the leader of the group. Consists of a small number of people gaining their livelihood from hunting, fishing and gathering of edible plants. Few inequalities.

2. pastoral: have livestock, have a chief. size ranges from a few hundred to many thousands. Marked by distinct inequalities

3. agrarian: have farm/agriculture, has chief/king. Based on small rural communities. Stronger inequalities among hunters and gatherers.

4. Early civilization: has a king/emperor. Very large in size, sometimes millions. Some cities exist with trade and manufacturing. Based mostly on agriculture. Major inequalities between classes. Distinct government headed by king/emperor.

4 stages of pre-modern societies: Hunter/gatherers

1. age and sex determine the leader of the group. Consists of a small number of people gaining their livelihood from hunting, fishing and gathering of edible plants. Few inequalities.

4 stages of pre-modern societies: pastoral

2. have livestock, have a chief. size ranges from a few hundred to many thousands. Marked by distinct inequalities

4 stages of pre-modern societies: agrarian

3. have farm/agriculture, has chief/king. Based on small rural communities. Stronger inequalities among hunters and gatherers.

4 stages of pre-modern societies: Early civilization

4. has a king/emperor. Very large in size, sometimes millions. Some cities exist with trade and manufacturing. Based mostly on agriculture. Major inequalities between classes. Distinct government headed by king/emperor.

3 stages of industrialized societies

1. Developing: rural, some cities developing, agriculture, crops produced for sale, lots of poverty (at its worse in rural areas)

2. Industrializing: began in 18th century, rapid tech increase, complex politics, highly developed community based on technology, urban centers, factories.

3. Industrialized: strongly developed nation-states. Majority of the population work in factories/offices rather than in agriculture. Most people live in urban areas.

4 childhood development stages: Piaget

Infant: sensorimotor, learn through touch and physical exploration. Infants can't differentiate themselves from their environment until about four months. Children then understand their environment to have distinct and stable properties.

3-5 years, young childhood: pre-operational, playing (roles). Children are egocentric, interpret world in terms of their own position. Have no sense of quantity/measurement. Use words to represent objects symbolically.

6-11 years, later childhood: concrete operational, children master abstract notions. Much less egocentric. They like board games and magic tricks.

11-18 years, Adolescent: formal operational. Understand morals and philosophy, can solve problems with theoretical thinking. Development in this stage is dependent on education.

More people in favor of the death penalty, increase in people on death row, Rise in imprisonment, more expensive to keep people behind bars

(?) How does the American Dream obscure the significance of socio-economic status?

Because people believe the myth that one can raise themselves up by the bootstraps. One's chance for success is heavily influenced by their social status. Structured inequalities are built into the social system.

Stratification: structured inequalities between different groupings of people

What are the 6 Socio-Economic Status classes in the U.S.?

1. Upper: yearly income of at least 200k, 5% of the U.S., often own 2 homes

6. Under: People who are disenfranchised, urban poor. Mostly African-American. hard to get out of poverty (more than one generation). Increased because of globalization, government programs providing assistance were cut back, underclass perpetuate their own inequality.

"Blame the victim" vs. "Blame the system"

Blame the victim: Individualizes poverty. Lack of motivation, not working hard enough, lack of skill/ability. Existence of winners and losers was a fact of life. Dependent on welfare (dependency culture), culture of poverty (socialized into a poor attitude/outlook).

thinking about situations from a perspective slightly removed from our everyday routines.

sociological perspective

a perspective regarding human life that focuses on identifying social patterns and grappling with social problems rather than on analyzing individual behavior and finding solutions for personal troubles.

Culture

Values held by a given group, the norms they follow and the material goods they create.

Values

abstract ideals. Example: monogamy.

Norms

Definite principles or rules that people are expected to observe, they represent the do's and dont's of social life.

Sociobiology

argues that our genetic makeup account for most aspects of social life.

Ethnocentricism

The judging of other cultures by our own standards. Sociologists try to avoid this.

cultural relativism

the practice of judging a society by its own standards

Assimilation

The process by which new cultures are absorbed into a single mainstream culture.

Criminal acts committed with the help of information technology. Examples: pornography, telemarketing fraud.

Class

A large group of people who occupy a similar economic position. They structure our life chances for success. relates to income, wealth, occupation, education, and lifestyle. Most people identify with middle class.

pg. 133
about Anna and Isabelle. *Social stigma = devaluing (children were illegitimate).
Learned interaction
*Isabelle had lots of 1-on-1 attention. Strong argument in support of public health and social services.

Henslin: Kindergarten Boot Camp

kindergartens and schools in general teach conformity. Become more socialized into society. The kindergartens are bureaucracies. The children learn their "student" role.

Socialization, functionalism, behavior. Is the school responsible?

Henslin: Kids and gendered sex play

Boys: bully in large groups. Use name-calling.

A lot of it is true to us.

Henslin: the pathology of imprisonment

Zimbardo's trying to emphasize that we need to reform prisons.
Assigned one group of volunteers as prison guards and the others as prisoners. Each group adapted to the role they were assigned to a shocking level.
Most people can be made to do anything when put into pyschologically compelling situations - regardless of their values or beliefs. Relates to milgram experiment.
Social interactionism: utilizes labelling theory. values, meaning internalized.

Conflict theory: issues of power

Henslin: Saints vs. Roguhnecks

Saints had a well paying jobs because of positive labels. People's reactions to the Roughnecks locked them into their bad behavior (went to prison). The saints and roguhnecks committed the same offensive behaviors, but the saints were still regarded favorably.

The reason: the saints were less visible, demeanor, bias. A lot of these causes were based on socio-economic differences
Symbolic interactionism: labelling, stigma, expectations.

Conflict theory: class conflict

Functionalism: social control, "we know who's bad by who's good"

Henslin: becoming a hitman

Conflict theory: business, power issues.

Henslin: Moving up from working class

About social mobility.

Socialization from the working class caused a culture shock when they tried to move into a higher class. Hadn't experienced high culture.
*idea of cultural capital: knowledge, education, high culture, etiquette. The working class children didn't have much capital in general.

Their success was based on their social class.

Henslin: Homeless women

*hard to get off welfare: childcare is very expensive, medicaid

*Mental illness: provoked by stress, and fear regarding finances. The women are paranoid.

Rules established amongst the social group. Group defied their learned social norms. Justified eating the bodies

Henslin: women/men's communication style

Men are more sraightforward. Women use apologies, compliments and thank you's in a more social fashion

Henslin: milgram's shock experiment

*When people know they're likely to conform psychologically, they're less likely to do so.
experimenter tells subject to deliver shocks to actor, actor acts as if he's hurt. Subject obeys orders although the actor seems hurt.
Part of leadership and conformity studies.